The Best of Real Simple's "New Uses for Old Things"

Wednesday, September 16, 2009

Today I was checking out Real Simple's new 50 All-Time Favorite New Uses for Old Things list. Since I've been an avid reader for quite a while, I didn't figure I'd find many new ideas...but did I ever! Several of these will also make great ways to meet my monthly green goal to "find a new use for something that would otherwise be thrown away," which makes it doubly exciting. With so many ideas available there's definitely something for everyone, but here are five of my favorites:

Wrapping the corners of hangers with rubberbands to prevent spaghetti-strap sundresses from ending up on the bottom of the closet...

Using a hotel shower cap as a handy-dandy "shoe wrapper" when packing extras for a trip, preventing them from tracking any dirt into your suitcase...

Using a magnet to stick tweezers or nail clippers to the inside of a metal medicine cabinet...

Using shower-curtain hooks to hang purses and other items from the pole in the closet...

And my #1 all-time favorite "New Use for Old Things":

Using an old contact case as a compact, non-rattling pill case for traveling. Basically, this is brilliant. I'm constantly forgetting to take my medication and vitamins with me when I go out of town, so now I'm planning to load up an old contact case (well-washed, naturally) with all those irritatingly forgettable little capsules, and just leave it in my purse permanently. Dilemma, SOLVED. Life, SIMPLER.

Haha! The lack of medicine cabinet would definitely make that one problematic... Maybe gluing a magnet inside a closet? That sticky putty stuff teachers use might even work if the hold is strong enough...

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